Two Converging Streams of Movement

Two important events took place in the national capital in the first week of July.

One is the meeting of all the central trade unions on 8 July which declared the determination of the central trade unions to carry forward the struggle on the ten point charter of demands. The Joint National Convention of Trade Unions will be held on 6th August where the future course of joint action will be announced.

The other is the national convention of the Left parties on 1July which adopted a Declaration on an alternative policy platform focussing on ten major features. The Left parties decided to conduct a countrywide campaign to take their alternative policy platform to the people and mobilise them around it.

What is significant is that the alternative policy platform put forward by the Left parties includes several basic demands raised by the central trade unions in their charter of demands which forms the basis for their continued campaigns and struggles.

While the central trade unions demanded concrete measures to curb price rise and strengthening of the public distribution system, the policy platform of the Left Parties talks of a food security law that ensures universal public distribution system and provision of 35 kilos of food grains a month for all families at not more than Rs 2 per kg. The central trade unions have been opposing disinvestment. The Left Parties’ alternative policy platform categorically opposes disinvestment of public sector shares and demands nationalisation of mining and oil resources, opposes FDI in retail and opening up of the financial sector. The Declaration adopted by the Left Parties’ convention echoes the demands of the central trade unions on the rights of the workers including minimum wages, social security benefits and contractorisation.

Issues specific to socially oppressed sections like women, dalits, adivasis and muslims also found expression in the Left Parties’ Declaration. The 14th conference of CITU has called upon the working class to address these issues in the efforts to unify the entire working class and intensify the struggle to change policies.

But, totally ignoring the demands of the united trade union movement and the Left parties, the UPA II government is doggedly persisting with its agenda of facilitating the national and multinational corporations to loot our people and our natural resources. This was once again evident in the government’s decision to increase FDI in telecom, insurance, defence etc sectors in a desperate move to attract foreign capital to meet the widening current account deficit.

The BJP which has no alternative policies to offer is busy hard selling its self proclaimed ‘Hindu Nationalist’ and die hard communal Prime Ministerial candidate. It is trying to use any occasion to invoke communal feelings and to revoke the Ram Mandir issue to boost its dimming electoral hopes. Modi is shamelessly using even such tragedies as the Kedarnath disaster to promote himself. He has even reported to have hired a Washington based firm famous for doing public relations for dictators at a huge expenditure for this.

It is in this context that the alternative policies announced by the Left Parties assume importance. The Declaration created great enthusiasm among the working class and lent strength to the struggle of the central trade unions. The national convention of the central trade unions will be another step forward in the struggle for alternative policies, which can be realised with the broader support from the democratic sections of the society.

CITU has to take initiative at all levels to ensure resounding success of its call by taking its message to the grass root level workers.

editorial, Working Class August 2013